Historic and Archaeological Resources
Inventory & Analysis
May 2012
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Inventory
(1)
The community’s Comprehensive Planning Historic Preservation Data Set
prepared and provided to the community by the Historic Preservation
Commission, and the Office, or their designees.
See the map titled Known Archaeological Sites and Areas Sensitive for Prehistoric
Archaeology in Bowdoinham, prepared by the Maine State Historic Preservation
Commission. Highlighted areas show where prehistoric archaeology sites have been
found and/or are likely to be found. There are 18 known prehistoric archaeological sites
in Bowdoinham. Most of them are located along tidal water or on riverbanks. The
Maine State Historic Preservation Commission notes that the banks of the Cathance,
Abagadassett, and Kennebec Rivers, and the river floodplain soils in the Bowdoinham
Wildlife Management Area are likely locations for prehistoric archaeological sites, and
should be surveyed.
The next table lists identified historic sites in Bowdoinham as recorded by the Maine
State Historic Preservation Commission.
Know Historic Archaeological Sites in Bowdoinham
Site Name
Site Number
Site Type
Periods of Significance
Gyles Settlement
ME049-001
settlement
1620 - 1675 (1669 - 1676)
Somerset Settlement
ME049-002
settlement
circa 1719
McCurdie's Point
ME049-003
shipyard
18th and 19th Centuries
Richard (vessel)
ME049-004
wreck, sloop 9/20/1923
Cathance River #1
ME049-005
farmstead
19th Century
Cathance River #2
ME049-006
farmstead
19th Century
Richard Collacott
ME049-007
trading post 1658(?) - 1676
Ebenezer F. Whitney
ME049-008
farmstead
circa 1839 - 1900
mill, carding
Brooks Carding Mill
ME049-009
circa 1800 - 1950s
and gristmill
E. Robbins
ME049-010
domestic
1826 - late-1940 - early-1950s
domestic
J. Hall Cellar and
ME049-011
and
pre-1828 - post-1936
Cemetery
cemetery
Unidentified
ME049-012
farmstead
unknown
farmstead
Source: Maine State Historic Preservation Commission, September 2011.
No professional town-wide surveys for historic archaeological sites have been conducted
to date in Bowdoinham.
The Maine State Historic Preservation Commission
recommends that future archaeological survey should focus on the identification of
potentially significant resources associated with the Town’s agricultural, residential, and
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Historic and Archaeological Resources
Inventory & Analysis
May 2012
industrial heritage, particularly those associated with the earliest Euro-American
settlement of the Town in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Five buildings in Bowdoinham are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as
shown in the next table.
Bowdoinham Historic Buildings on the
National Register of Historic Places
1. Cornish House, Main Street
2. Robert P. Carr House, Main Street
3. Viola Coombs House, Main Street
4. Harward Family House, Port Point Road
5. Butterfield-Sampson House, River Road
Source: Maine State Historic Preservation Commission, September 2011
In addition to the above listed properties, a National Register eligible historic district has
been tentatively identified in Bowdoinham village, although the exact boundary of that
district has not been determined. The Maine State Historic Preservation Commission
notes that a comprehensive survey of Bowdoinham's historic aboveground resources
needs to be conducted in order to identify other properties that may be eligible for
nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.
(2)
An outline of the community's history, including a brief description of historic
settlement patterns and events contributing to the development and character of
the community and its surroundings.
The Town of Bowdoinham was incorporated September 18, 1762, as the 14th Town in
the District of Maine. Trappers, fishermen, surveyors, and timber cruisers peopled the
area, at least seasonally, as early as 1630.
Permanent settlers arrived in the 1730's, shortly after the end of the Maine Indian wars.
The first settlers lived on the fringes of Merrymeeting Bay and its tributary rivers. They
were farmers and fishermen first, working to push the woods back. A 1795 map of "old"
Bowdoinham offers a handwritten comment from its surveyor/editor: "there are yet no
real roads in this town... passage is mostly by water.”
Bowdoinham, in those early days before Maine's statehood, included all of present day
Richmond (White's Landing) a part of Topsham (Cathance Neck) and a large part of
present-day Bowdoin (West Bowdoinham). Since 1823, Bowdoinham's boundaries have
remained essentially unchanged, stretching some eight miles along the western shore of
Merrymeeting Bay and the Kennebec River, then inland due west nearly five miles.
Today’s Bowdoinham Village, or Cathance Landing, was settled about 1800. A toll
bridge spanned the Cathance by 1805, and the tidewater landing developed into a bustling
center for trade in less than a decade. The landlocked, developing towns of Bowdoin,
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Historic and Archaeological Resources
Inventory & Analysis
May 2012
Litchfield, Webster, Wales, even Lisbon and Lewiston found “the Landing" to be quick
and easy access to tidewater, and the sailing vessels that plied the Atlantic coast.
Bowdoinham became one of the earliest shipbuilding centers in a State that became
known as a "Ship building State.” Vessels of wood were constructed at Bowdoinham a
decade before the American Revolution, and during the next 125 years, more than 250
vessels of all class and tonnage were built here.
The decades before the American Civil War brought the town unparalleled prosperity.
Warehouses, chandlers, icehouses, mills, stores, and shipyards lined both shores of the
Cathance. Boarding houses, two hotels, several taverns, private estates and more than two
dozen shops, businesses and manufacturing operations shared frontage on the Town's
steep Main Street with private homes, churches and civic clubs.
In its 1850 census, the Town's population reached 2,382. But the decade following the
Civil War triggered an economic decline in Bowdoinham and other parts of the north and
east. Many young men went to and were wounded or killed in the war, while many more
followed the rivers and railroads south and west when the conflict was done. The Town’s
only bank was robbed in 1867; more than $73,000 was taken and never recovered.
Bowdoinham's smaller, wooden ships became obsolete, her yards too small to compete.
The town which helped to foster the state's maritime industry had to stand helplessly
aside, watching her seamen and master builders move to towns with wider rivers and the
ability to build bigger ships. By 1890, Bowdoinham had reverted to what it had been in
its earliest days, a small, independent, agricultural-based community of self-sufficient
family farms. Residents produced apples, hay, wheat and potatoes, some sheep, poultry
and beef, or worked in small shops. They harvested fish and ice from the rivers, and
wood from the forests. The Kendall Brothers came to town and their successful fertilizer,
sheep and grain business became known across the state.
In 1902, a mid-December fire raged largely unchecked through Bowdoinham's downtown
commercial center, destroying almost all of it. Dozens of shops, homes, and warehouses
were leveled. Fire struck the downtown area again in 1904, taking out another section of
the town's center. Most of Bowdoinham’s commerce, and much of her historical village
center, were lost in these misfortunes.
After the global depression of the 1930's, Bowdoinham's population sank to a modern
low of 904 people.
At the end of World War II, Bowdoinham rode the success of its neighboring towns to
make gains of its own. Today, her population has grown steadily to 2,889 residents.
Bowdoinham has become a "bedroom town," her industry and fortunes tied to those of
her neighbors. Her history, made even more remote by these recent changes, has become
all the more precious, even more worthy of preservation.
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(3)
Historic and Archaeological Resources
Inventory & Analysis
May 2012
An inventory of the location, condition, and use of any historical or
archaeological resource that is of local importance.
In addition to the prehistoric and historic sites noted above by the Maine State Historic
Preservation Commission, the Town has at least 48 cemeteries, some public, some
private some have financial support, most do not. See the map titled Public Facilities and
Services for the public cemetery locations. Additional buildings and structures of local
historic importance are shown in the next table.
Historic Buildings and Structures in Bowdoinham of Local
Importance
that are NOT on the National Register of Historic Places
Name
Location
Condition
Use
Town Hall
School St
Good
Active
John C. Coombs
School St
Fair
Active
Municipal Building
Merrymeeting Grange
Main St
Fair Active
Structural
Work
Needed
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(4)
A brief description of threats to local historic resource and to those of state and
national significance as identified by the Maine Historic Preservation
Commission.
Development and accompanying excavation and re-grading activities may disturb
prehistoric and historic sites and artifacts. Detailed archaeological surveys prioritized for
shoreland areas could reduce this risk by informing developers and the planning board
where such assets are located. As noted in the Analyses section above, ordinance
provisions for site plan review, subdivision and shoreland zoning are meant to protect
historic and archeological resources from new development. There are no ordinance
standards to protect historic buildings and structures from being altered beyond
recognition or razed.
Analysis
(1)
Are historic patterns of settlement still evident in the community?
The Bowdoinham village area retains many of its historic buildings: civic, commercial,
residential, and religious. The streets converge on the village following in many
instances the original road alignments and pathways through the surrounding hillsides,
fields and along waterways. The density of development in the village area also continues
to reflect early traditional development in which buildings were sited close together on
small lots.
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(2)
Historic and Archaeological Resources
Inventory & Analysis
May 2012
What protective measures currently exist for historic and archaeological
resources and are they effective?
Most known historic and archeological resources in Bowdoinham are located within
shoreland areas. One of the purposes of the shoreland zoning districts is, “to protect
archaeological and historic resources.” Shoreland zoning provisions note, “A permit is
not required for an archaeological excavation as long as the excavation is conducted by
an archaeologist listed on the State Historic Preservation Officer’s level 1 or level 2
approved list, and unreasonable erosion and sedimentation is prevented by means of
adequate and timely temporary and permanent stabilization measures.” Shoreland zoning
development approval criteria includes, “Will not have an adverse effect on historic
and/or archaeological sites.”
The Town believes that its ordinance provisions are effective in protecting historic and
archeological resources from new development. However, Bowdoinham does not have
design requirements specific to the preservation or historically accurate renovation of
historic buildings and structures. Ordinance provisions for site plan regulated
development and subdivisions are noted in response to the next question.
(3)
Do local site plan and/or subdivision regulations require applicants proposing
development in areas that may contain historic or archaeological resources to
conduct a survey for such resources?
Archeological or historic surveys are not explicitly defined in the Land Use Ordinance.
However, Tier III projects require a site inventory and analysis, which includes
identifying the location of, “…historic and/ or archaeological resources, together with a
description of such features.” Likewise, subdivision inventory and analysis requires
identifying, “Locations of all culturally, historically or archaeologically significant
buildings, features, or sites.” These requirements may be --- waived by the planning
board.
Subdivision, site plan review, and general performance standards include historic and
archaeological provisions for development on sites identified as containing historic or
archaeological resources by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and require,
“appropriate measures for protecting these resources, including but not limited to,
modification of the proposed design of the site, timing of construction, and limiting the
extent of excavation.” Furthermore, subdivisions and proposed developments that have
buildings or sites on the National Register of Historic Places or are adjacent to such sites
must, “minimize the impacts on the historic features. When the historic features to be
protected include buildings, the placement and the architectural design of new structures
in the subdivision shall be similar to the historic structures. The Board may require the
applicant to seek the advice of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.”
(4)
Have significant historic resources fallen into disrepair, and are there ways the
community can provide incentives to preserve their value as an historical
resource?
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Historic and Archaeological Resources
Inventory & Analysis
May 2012
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Most significant historic resources in Bowdoinham are in adequate to fair condition. The
following historic properties are in substandard or blighted condition: Ridge Road
Church and Merrymeeting School House. Property owners could use historic
preservation tax credits (Federal and State) to reduce the costs to redevelop old buildings
for new uses while maintaining their historical appeal.
Local efforts to preserve and restore historic resources could be undertaken by townappointed committees and by volunteer groups. The Bowdoinham Historical Society
gathered the largest single collection of records, photographs, and artifacts relating to the
town, managed to index at least 48 of the cemeteries that exist in Bowdoinham, and
fostered the publication of 14 historical feature newspapers called the Bowdoinham
Advertiser. The attention of the Bowdoinham Historical Society to the Town's history
coupled with its many social, community-building activities and events make the Society
a vital promoter of the Town's future as well as its past.
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